"Tampa is beautiful. But with all the police and barricades and security, it also felt like it was an occupied country," said Chris Heimburger, 56, from Houston.

"It's a sight I don't want to see in America," said Scott MacDonald, 40, an alternate delegate from Massachusetts. "They could have toned it down. Some security is a reasonable thing, but so is dissent, so is protest. ... We should support that, not squelch it."

"It's beautiful. I'm coming back for sure," said Sheila Palandjian, who attended the convention from Belmont, Mass.

City bigs: "I think we have set the standard for how these events should run," mayor Bob Buckhorn said. "I think the preparation that went into this and the discipline with which it was executed — from the police officer on the street, to the solid waste crews, to the parking folks, to the volunteers — it was flawless." RNC by the numbers. Worth the watch.